Spider-Man, Shrek, The Lord of the Rings, Batman, James Bond, Star Wars and Harry Potter all have one thing in common. Their films have grossed less money at the domestic box office than the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But then, in looking at things that way, every film series that isn’t Marvel’s has that in common.

This week’s release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier brought the domestic gross of the nine films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to $2,463,300,000 and counting. That’s more than the eight Harry Potter films, seven Star Wars films (including The Clone Wars), and 24 James Bond films, making it the highest grossing franchise in American history…not adjusted for inflation. Read more details on the Marvel Cinematic Universe box office below. Read More »

After getting sued over the packaging of Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One – Avengers Assembled Blu-ray box set, Marvel has regrouped and reloaded. The official set goes back up for presale Tuesday and will now be on sale April 2, 2013.

With the added time, the company has gone ahead and upgraded the set. In addition to full Blu-rays of Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Iron Man 2, Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers, they’ve added brand new, never before seen deleted scenes from those films as well as an exclusive tease to all of the Phase Two movies – Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Avengers 2 and maybe even Ant-Man. After the jump, read what Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige had to say about the set. Read More »

Had things gone according to plan, hardcore Marvel fans would be eagerly anticipating the arrival of the ultra-luxe $139 Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One – Avengers Assembled Blu-ray box set next week. Due to a lawsuit over the metallic S.H.I.E.L.D. briefcase that the discs come in, however, the set was pushed back to spring 2013 — and when it does finally arrive, it’ll come in a different case than the one originally shown. Bummer.

Happily, there’s a small silver lining for those who pre-ordered the set on Amazon. The retailer has sent out a notice to customers promising a free copy of The Avengers two-disc Blu-ray / DVD combo, redeemable for the next several weeks. More details after the jump.

Where will you be able to see some new Iron Man 3 footage? Will the S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show have anything to do with The Avengers 2? What do Thor and Arrested Development have in common? Is there a problem with the Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase One Blu-ray box set? How good is the script for Ninja Turtles? Want to see a clip from Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 1? Read about all this and more in today’s Superhero Bits. Read More »

How much did The Dark Knight Rises make at midnight last night? Where can you purchase Gotham Rogues merchandise? What are the 16 creepiest scenes in comic book history? Curious to see a brand new trailer for the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One Avengers Assembled Box Set? How about almost twenty images from Dredd? Where can you see a bunch of behind the scenes photos from the Adam West Batman show? Read about all this and more in today’s Superhero Bits.

Shawarma wasn’t the only post-script to the climactic battle in The Avengers. A couple found a discarded alien gun and went on a crime spree too, with S.H.I.E.L.D in hot pursuit. That’s the story you’ll see in Item 47, a Marvel one-shot short film starring Jesse Bradford and Lizzie Caplan as the couple and Maximiliano Hernández and Titus Welliver as the S.H.I.E.L.D agents on call.

The film screened at Comic-Con and will be an extra on The Avengers Blu-ray in September. Until then, though, you can check out the poster for the film as well as two clips. Also, the Marvel Cinematic Universe – Phase One: Avengers Assembled Box Set has been fully revealed including brand new DVD art for each movie. It’s all right after the jump. Read More »

Six hundred million dollars later, The Avengers has rocked our world. The film, and the build-up to it, were such massive pop culture events, years in the making, that everything coming after it almost feels superfluous. So instead of looking forward, maybe it’s time to look back and appreciate what Marvel did leading up to The Avengers. That would be films like Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, (mostly) high quality superhero movies that lead to this summer’s uber-hit.

Marvel is releasing a huge Blu-ray box set September 25 called Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One – Avengers Assembled and has just released a trailer teasing the package. Check it out below. Read More »